MINNEAPOLIS (GopherSports.com) – With less than 100 days until the 93rd season of Gopher Hockey gets underway, the 2014-15 schedule continues to take shape as the matchups for the Mariucci Classic have been set as well as details for Minnesota’s home-and-home series with St. Cloud State.

The 24th annual Mariucci Classic, named after legendary Gophers player and coach John Mariucci, will see Minnesota host UMass-Lowell, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and Merrimack at Mariucci Arena, Jan. 2-3. The Gophers will open the holiday tournament against Merrimack while RIT and UMass-Lowell will skate in the opening game of the event on Friday, Jan. 2. The two winning teams from each semifinal, as well as both losing teams, will then face each other on Saturday, Jan. 3. Game times will be announced at a later date.

Minnesota has also finalized its non-conference home-and-home series with St. Cloud State, Oct. 31-Nov. 1 with the opening game of the series taking place at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud on Friday, Oct. 31 and the series finale set for Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis on Saturday, Nov. 1.

The 2014-15 season of Gopher Hockey marks the 93rd campaign in program history. Minnesota has won three-straight regular-season conference titles – a first for the Maroon & Gold – and has made two trips to the Frozen Four in the last three years.